Portuguese Black Beans and Rice

Going raw vegan has been a goal of mine for the past three months. I went pescatarian for a full-month and out of nowhere, I randomly began craving Chic-fil-a and so, I went to Chic-fil-a and got a Chicken Sandwich meal along with an 8-count nugget! So, I know if I tried to do vegan, I’d definitely randomly crave a steak and I don’t even eat steak.

Because it is hard for me to go vegan, I decided to go vegan for a week and if I can make it a week, I’d continue going. I ordered a Vegan Recipe book from Amazon and decided to pick a couple of recipes for that week.

For lunch, I made Portuguese Black Beans and Rice. As I was cooking it, it SMELLED delicious and I could only hope that, it would taste delicious as well. It was a bit spicy due to Smoked Paprika and Chipotle Chiles, as well as the Creole Seasoning that I usually use as a season while cooking, but outside of that, I LOVED IT!!! It is a meal that I can keep apart of my routine if and when I decide to keep going with the Vegan thing. The ingredients and recipe is below:

Olive Oil

Red Onion, chopped

Bell Peppers

Garlic Cloves

Chiptole Chiles in Adobo

15oz Can Chopped Stewed Tomatoes

15oz Can of Black Beans

Smoked Paprika

Ground Cumin

Black Pepper

Brown Rice

Sea Salt

Two additional seasonings that I used: Greek Seasoning and Creole Seasoning!

I didn’t add any numbers because I don’t pay attention to the numbers. I put in as much seasoning as I wanted and I sliced up as much red onion and bell peppers as I wanted too.

In a large skillet, add olive oil and let heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook. Meanwhile this is cooking, prepare your brown rice. You may want to start on the brown rice before everything as, because it takes a while to cook brown rice. In that skillet, add the chipotle chiles and chopped stewed tomatoes and stir occasionally. Add the beans, paprika, cumin and black pepper. Stir and cook until done. Once the rice is finished, stir in the rice with the contents of the skillet. Season with any other seasons as you please! Let cool off and enjoy!